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DeMarco Murray dilemma still haunting Eagles

Eagles running back DeMarco Murray (right) watches from the sidelines during the second half of the Eagles' 40-17 loss to Arizona. Murray had just 2 carries in the game.(Photo: AP)

PHILADELPHIA - DeMarco Murray stood on the sidelines during the fourth quarter Sunday night, ski hat on his head, watching the final minutes of another desultory Eagles’ loss in which he hardly participated.

The hat, rather than an actual helmet, could be taken as yet another sign of Murray’s frustration and his de-emphasis from the Eagles’ offense, although both Murray and Eagles coach Chip Kelly said that wasn’t the case.

After the Eagles lost 40-17 to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night, Murray was cornered outside the Eagles’ locker room by a few reporters. He said he wasn’t sending a message by wearing the hat during the game. Other players were spotted wearing the hats as well.

“I had it on the whole game,” Murray said. “It was a little chilly out.”

And Kelly, during his day-after press conference Monday afternoon, said Murray has not been relegated to the third-string running back, even though it certainly looked that way Sunday. Murray only got two carries for three yards and played just eight snaps, well below the amount of snaps for Darren Sproles (30) and Ryan Mathews (26).

“It’s a combination of we only had 19 rushes on the entire day,” Kelly said. “We need to run the ball more consistently for us to be good on the offensive side of the ball. When we get into those games where we’re just throwing and not running the ball, obviously, the numbers are going to not distribute the way anyone wants it to happen.”

Kelly was then asked to explain the disparity in snaps among the three backs.

“It depends on where we are,” Kelly said. “We had a lot of not third-down situations, but passing situations, and Darren is in there in that.”

But there was one situation that seemed tailor-made for Murray, and that was the 4th-and-1 call from the Arizona 8 yard line with less than a minute remaining in the first half. At the time, the Eagles were trailing 17-10. Kelly decided to pass up a field goal and go for the first down, hoping to tie the game with a touchdown.

Murray had been 12-for-12 this season on converting third downs with four yards to go or less. Yet Kelly went with Mathews, who was stuffed for no gain, and the Eagles didn’t get any points. They also went three-and-out to start the third quarter. Arizona, meanwhile, scored three touchdowns, taking advantage of two of the Eagles’ three turnovers, to take a 37-10 lead and put the game away.

Kelly said he went with Mathews because he is the biggest back, weighing 230 pounds. Mathews, however, is listed in the media guide at 220 pounds and Murray is listed at 217 pounds.

“That package that we were going to run on that play, [Mathews] is our back on that play,” Kelly said. “We kind of got the look we thought we were going to get. We thought it was going to be crammed inside. We had to get the ball to the perimeter.”

Murray was asked if he’s disappointed he didn’t get the ball in that situation, given his success in those short-yardage situations.

“Like I said, whenever I get an opportunity, I have to make the best of it,” Murray said. “I’m not calling the plays. It’s out of my control. I can’t worry about it.”

Kelly insisted that Murray is a part of the running back rotation, even though Murray is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry and has just 606 yards rushing for the season. But just being in a rotation is quite a demotion for Murray, who led the NFL in rushing last season with the Dallas Cowboys and signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Eagles last March.

Kelly was later asked why he would sign Murray if he’s only going to be a rotational running back.

“We don’t have any thoughts or plans going into it,” Kelly said. “This is just how the season has expressed itself. We would’ve hoped we had carries to go around with everybody. We would have loved to have 35 carries that we can distribute between our backs.

“You’re just not going to run it for the sake of running it, and average two yards a carry and say, ‘Well, at least we ran it enough and everyone got touches.’ It’s not about getting touches. It’s about winning and productivity.”